Appointment of Punjab Ombudsman: LHC seeks summary, notification of premature retirement of Azam

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Wednesday called summary and notification about premature retirement of former chief secretary Major Azam Suleman Khan (retd) within fortnight in a petition against his appointment as Punjab.

Earlier, acting Advocate General of Punjab Shan Gul sought constitution of a larger bench for disposal of the matter in hand but Chief Justice Qasim Khan observed that this would be considered at later stage.

The chief justice said the court wanted to know that under what basis the law was amended to make any person eligible for the post of the ombudsman. ''Prima facie the law seems to have been amended to appoint blue-eyed persons,'' the chief justice added.

The petitioner a bar member Zaheer Abbas argued that the law had been amended with malafide intention to accommodate favourite individuals. He said only former judges of the high court were eligible to be appointed as ombudsman as the office required a law knowing incumbent. However, he said, the amended law empowered the government to appoint any person.

The lawyer argued that the government could appoint any blue-eyed officer declaring him a person of known integrity. He argued that the impugned appointment had been made without a mandatory consultation with the chief justice of the high court and prayed to declare the same as null and void.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020